From Discontent to Civic Engagement in an ESL Learning Community

Civic Engagement in the Online Classroom: Increasing Youth Political Engagement in an Online American Government Course

eJournal of Public Affairs ◽

10.21768/8.1.3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 31-68

Keyword(s):

Service Learning ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Learning Community ◽

Political Process ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Discussion Board ◽

American Government ◽

Community Based Research ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Current Events

This article discusses the development and implementation of a civics project in an online American government course and explores the challenges and opportunities around managing civic engagement projects in an online format. Data analyzed for this article included 11 semesters of responses to anonymous pre- and post-project surveys, university end-of-course evaluations, Center for Civic Engagement surveys of Citizen Scholar courses, student reflection papers, and discussion board posts. Findings revealed that participation in the civics project increased students’ civic knowledge and helped them develop the skills needed to become active citizens. Students indicated that they intended to continue following current events and that they would stay involved in the political process. Lessons learned are applicable to courses in fields seeking to incorporate service-learning, community-based research, or civic engagement in an online context.

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English at Your Service

Changing Urban Landscapes Through Public Higher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3454-9.ch001 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-25

Author(s):

Helene Krauthamer ◽

Matthew Petti

Keyword(s):

Service Learning ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

General Education ◽

Learning Community ◽

Educational Practice ◽

Black College ◽

Community Based ◽

Historically Black College ◽

Community Based Learning ◽

The Impact

This chapter discusses civic engagement and service-learning in higher education at an urban, land-grant, Historically Black College/University, with a particular focus on the challenges and benefits of service-learning for commuter students. After a discussion of service learning and how it exemplifies the Kolb learning model and effective educational practice, the chapter presents illustrations of civic engagement and extracurricular community-based learning in an English BA program through its two student organizations – The Literary Club and Sigma Tau Delta-Alpha Epsilon Rho. The chapter also provides an example of how service-learning has been implemented in a General Education program and specifically in a writing course. The chapter highlights the partnerships with community organizations that have developed, presents reflective testimonials about the impact of these experiences, provides recommendations for strengthening community-based learning, and concludes that service-learning/community-based learning results in a sense of community for all participants.

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Service-Learning Pedagogy, Civic Engagement: Multiple Bidirectional Relationships in College Freshmen

International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement ◽

10.37333/001c.001001005 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 23-46

Author(s):

Valerie I. Sessa ◽

Stanley Grabowski ◽

Aishwarya Shashidhar

Keyword(s):

Service Learning ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Learning Community ◽

Academic Engagement ◽

First Semester ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

Post Test ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

And Behaviors ◽

Service Learning Pedagogy

This study begins to unravel the multiple bidirectional relationships between service-learning pedagogy and civic and academic engagement attitudes and behaviors. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison group pre- and post-test design was used with a sample of 300 first-semester freshmen participating in either a service-learning-based learning community or a learning community without service-learning. Participants completed a pre-test at the beginning of the semester measuring high school civic and academic engagement behaviors and attitudes and a post-test at the end of the semester measuring the same variables based on their first semester in college. Students with higher civic engagement attitudes and behaviors prior to college were more likely to take a service-learning course than students with lower civic engagement attitudes and behaviors. Students in service-learning were more likely to participate in community activities than students not participating in service-learning. Finally, within the service-learning groups, students who were more academically engaged had higher academic and civic attitudinal engagement at the end of the course. Students who were more civically engaged were more likely to see lower costs of helping to themselves; they did not change in terms of their beliefs about the community’s needs. This study replicates and extends previous research to demonstrate that there are multiple bidirectional relationships among these variables that need to be taken into account in research and practice.

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